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S23-229
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Mind, Society, and Religion in the Biblical World
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
11/23/2013
Room: Brent – Hilton Baltimore
Magical thinking in the biblical world
The papers in this session will examine how the human mind deals with magic and apply insights from cognitive theories of magic to biblical and apocryphal texts as well as archeological evidence. Cognitive approaches apply the often contested category of “magic” as a non-pejorative, analytical category. We are interested in both subconscious, low-level mechanisms that underlie the mental construction of magical scenarios as well as the cognitive patterns that are used to reason about magic. Particular themes that we expect to discuss in this session include intuitions about agentive causation, ritual efficacy, contagion, intuitive explanations of how and why magic works, the connection between magic and miracle,
as well as various emotional factors, such as disgust.

Thomas Kazen, Stockholm School of Theology, Presiding
Gabriel Levy, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Corby Kelly, Texas Tech University
Crashing and Burning in Ancient Love Magic: A comparison of Graeco-Roman and Jewish forms of love magic from a cognitive perspective(25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
CHAN, Lung Pun Common, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Explaining Coptic Christianity with Sørensen’s Cognitive Theory of Magic: The Gospel of the Egyptians and other Coptic Texts As Test Cases (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Vojtech Kase, Masarykova univerzita
Did early Christians believe in their miracle stories? The case of speaking animals in the apocryphal acts of apostles (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Istvan Czachesz, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Are magic and miracle different? Paul’s Ephesian ministry in Acts from a cognitive perspective (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (30 min)

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S23-328
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Mind, Society, and Religion in the Biblical World
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
11/23/2013
Room: Pickersgill – Hilton Baltimore (note the change!)
Review of I. Czachesz and R. Uro, eds, Mind, Morality and Magic in the Biblical World: Cognitive Science Approaches in Biblical Studies. This volume explores cross-culturally recurrent patterns of religious thought and behavior in the biblical world from the perspective of the cognitive science of religion. The authors are focusing on interactions between mind and society, cognition and culture, as well as on the transmission of religious knowledge. The cognitive perspectives used in the book include
memory studies, ritual theories, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, as well as insights about social cognition, emotions, and religious experience.

Claire White, California State University, Northridge, Presiding
William W. McCorkle Jr., Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, Panelist (20 min)
Erin Roberts, University of South Carolina – Columbia, Panelist (20 min)
Zeba Crook, Carleton University, Panelist (20 min)
Adriana Destro, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Panelist (10 min)
Mauro Pesce, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Panelist (10 min)
Risto Uro, University of Helsinki, Respondent (15 min)
Istvan Czachesz, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Respondent (15 min)
Break (5 min)
Discussion (35 min)

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S25-223
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Mind, Society, and Religion in the Biblical World
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
11/25/2013
Room: Pickersgill – Hilton Baltimore
Magic, Ritual and Music in the Biblical World

Colleen Shantz, Toronto School of Theology, Presiding
Jutta Jokiranta, University of Helsinki
Magical Practices in Qumran Texts and Ritual Efficacy (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Brandon Walker, University of Nottingham
‘This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting’: Prayer and Fasting as Ritual Efficacy (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Risto Uro, University of Helsinki
“Baptizing… and teaching”: ritual and religious knowledge in early Christianity (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Jade Weimer, University of Toronto
Neurophysiological Effects of Musical Participation: The Power of Musical Ritual & Metaphor in Early Christianity (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (30 min)